Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 1/3/2014

Florida citrus growers optimistic

Florida’s fresh citrus shipments, and the percentage of overall production fresh represents, keeps declining. Through early December, shipments were down by almost a third on grapefruit and tangerines and by 36% on navels compared to the same time last season. Despite the seemingly bad news, there’s optimism in the groves. [Source: The Packer]

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITPat Geraghty, Florida Blue CEO, is Floridian of the Year

Florida Blue CEO Pat Geraghty has staked out a leadership position that is putting his insurance company — and Florida — at the forefront of health care trends.

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity plans to step up hiring to double the number of people who review claims for reemployment benefits and hire additional contact center employees to help unemployed workers with questions. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]

Housing recovery means more seized homes on auction block

As the recovery in housing prices has helped lenders whittle down a glut of seized homes, they've begun moving more properties to auction and selling them more quickly. In states with the biggest backlogs—those where judges review all home seizures—the pace of new auctions has risen steadily since last July. [Source: CNBC]

From South Florida to St. Augustine, mangroves are making moves up Florida’s Atlantic coast, chewing up salt marshes in the latest indicator of global climate change. But scientists say the ecological consequences may not be harmful. “There are plenty of examples of climate change having a negative impact, but this is something very different,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.